INTEGRATION (Bonfire Academy Book Two) (Bonfire Chronicles) by Imogen Rose

idiot not to be, wouldn’t he?”
    “Yeah. I guess. But how come he talks to Martha, but not me?”
    “Guys…who can figure them out? You shouldn’t worry, though. Give him time. Can’t be easy for a non-demon to think about dating one of us.”
    “Any idea what he is?”
    There was no way I could share that with her, but I couldn’t lie. “Yes, but I can’t tell.”
    “’Cause you’re an apprentice and all that?”
    “Confidentiality.” It was partly true anyway. “I still think you should ask him to the Integrates ball.”
    “No, no way. Mom would be mortified if I ever did the asking. She’s kind of old-fashioned like that. And so am I.”
    “Eh? Quaint, I guess, but very un-demon-like.”
    She shrugged. “I’m going to try the rest of the dresses on for you. Be back in a min.”
    While she busied herself in my closet again, I lay down on my bed and stretched. My body felt tense and achy. I could really do with a nice night out at the ball, to just unwind, relax, and laugh with my friends. And with Jagger. I needed to sort things out with Quinn. I couldn’t even begin to think of how to do it. Should I just come right out and tell him that Jagger and I had synched? Did he even know what synching was? And if so, would he buy that Jagger and I had synched? Or would he think I was making it up as cover? It sounded highly unbelievable that I would have synched with a faery.
    “What’s in this garment bag?” Faustine waved a Chanel bag at me that she must have found hanging in my closet.
    “Ah!” I smiled. “That’s my dress for the ball.”
    “Can I open it for a peek?”
    “Nope! I want it to be a surprise.”
    “I won’t tell Quinn, I promise. Just a little peek?” Her eyes shone bright with anticipation.
    I shook my head and grinned at her.
    “Will you at least tell me what color it is, just so we don’t clash?”
    “Ha, ha. Nice try. I guess I can share the color. It’s slatey, kind of a teal black. I’m not good at describing colors.”
    “I bet it’s beyond fabulous.” She sighed, then turned back to the closet.
    It was. The whole time I’d been out shopping for ball gowns, I only had one person in mind—Jagger. My new gown would knock his socks off.
    Faustine came floating back into the room in a silvery-blue Dior gown.
    I sat up. “O-M-G! Forget what I said about the last one. This is it! You look amazing.”
    She smiled. “I knew it was the right one as soon as I put it on. Sure I can borrow it? It’s a little bit big around the bust, but I can pad it out.”
    “Yes, you can keep it. It was obviously made for you.”
    She waltzed over and threw her arms around me. “Thanks.”
    Someone knocked loudly on the door.
    Faustine said, “I’m going to get out of this gown, just in case it’s trouble,” and disappeared back into my closet.
    As I approached the door, I took a deep breath. The scent was clear—undead. It wasn’t a familiar smell, so I opened the door on full alert, even though I detected no hint of malevolence. As expected, two vampires stood on the other side of the threshold. The beautiful blond twins had customized their uniforms, making them as Harajuku worthy as possible.
    “Hey, is Faustine here?” one of them asked.
    “Yeah. Who are you?” I needed to make sure that they weren’t part of Mason’s posse.
    “Friends of mine,” Faustine said, coming up behind me. “This is Audrey and Viola. I met them over at McKenzie’s house during camp week. They’re new at school. Transfers from Beni-en Academy near Tokyo.”
    “Hey, nice to meet you,” they said in unison.
    I stepped away to unblock the doorway. “Beni-en? Nice school. How come you transferred?”
    “We were homesick. We wanted to go home to London, but this was the compromise. One year here, and then we can go home,” Viola said.
    “Unless you love it so much that you want to stay for Enrichment,” Faustine added.
    “Can’t imagine that’ll happen!” Audrey said. “We’re